Department of Music welcomes new chair p. 4 Photo by Anjel-Ali Ormond. Inside: Troy Store returns to help students with meals p. 2 , National Sickle Cell Awareness Month p. 3, Student Government Association works on big agenda items p. 5 Twitter @TheVAStatesman Instagram www.TheVirginiaStatesman.com@TheVAStatesmanDIRECTORTHESTATESMANProudlyrepresentingthestudentvoiceatVirginiaStateUniversitysince1930.www.TheVirginiaStatesman.com|VolumeXCIIssue2|September21,2022|FreeNEW
THEVIRGINIASTATESMAN PAGE WEDNESDAY29.21.22LOCAL
National Sickle Cell Awareness Month recognizes need for battling disease
Sickle Cell Warriors are the first to tell you that no two patients are the same.It is time for the mutated gene from that baby in West Africa, to be embedded into the culture and the health awareness of everyone in the BlackWarriorscommunity.are eager to tell their stories of how the sickle gene af fects their lives, to the greater Black community. It begins with everyone knowing that since 1975, September has been and is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month.
100,000 AMERICANS are roughly affected by sickle cell disease.
SICKLE 95%AWARENESSDISEASECELLBYTHENUMBERS:OFNEWBORNS
By coincidence, the child born in ancient Africa with this genetic muta tion was born in a tropical region of West Africa, the perfect environment for a killer parasite, malaria, that is transported by mosquitos. The mos quitos transmit the malaria parasite and infect humans while they are feeding on blood.
Jasmine China and Antonio Car rington Jr, are two VSU Trojans with SCD.China established the Jasmine Cares Foundation to advocate for sickle cell education and her story is ravaged by long, life threatening hospitalizations whereas Carrington, Senior Engineering major, has lived a life without severe incident.
with sickle cell disease will live to be adults.
Thousands of years ago, in ancient Africa, a child was born with a simple yet dramatic change, a mutation, in its DNA - a human genetic code. One single change occurred, a mistake, in the code. Consider the vowel substitu tion, ‘A’ for ‘O,’ in the words, “cat” and “cot.”“Where is the cat?” and “Where is the cot?” have very different mean ings due to one letter. This is what happened in the genome of this baby.
occurred with SCD in Virginia in 2020.
African American births are af fected by sickle cell trait.
Fortunately, the parasite cannot flourish in these misshapen sickled cells. Thus, more individuals with this mutation would survive a malar ial infection than those without any copy of the sickle gene.
The mutation occurs in an im portant protein, hemoglobin– and our red blood cells, are packed with it. Hemoglobin is like a tool that can grab oxygen in the lungs and deliver it to every single cell of the body.
There are two copies of every gene, one from the mother and one from the father. The people who have one normally functioning gene and the other a sickle gene have an advan tage.Their infection is less severe be cause half of their blood cell can sickle and are immune. This environ mental pressure produced a fitness advantage for carriers of one copy of the sickle gene. People with only one copy of the defective hemoglobin protein are called carrier and have SCT. In the US, over three million, primarily Black Americans have SCT.
Terry Jackson Staff Writer
brittle. They can cause traffic jams in the micro vessels and the precious ox ygen cells desperately need to thrive can die. Any part of the entire body can beEvendamaged.worse, when the cells do not receive the oxygen, chaos erupts and the body screams out in horrific episodes of pain known as a “crisis”. The vast majority of Sickle Cell War riors battle this disease consistently thought their lives. Carriers have 1 in 4 chance of having a child with the disease and most people do not know they have SCT.
64 BIRTHS
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmen tal Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1 OUT OF 16,300
Hispanic-American births are affected by sickle cell disease.
As an HBCU, Virginia State Uni versity is expected to have multiple students on campus living with SCD (sickle cell disease), and statistics sug gest a large number of students have SCT (sickle cell trait).
A baby can also be born with two copies of the sickle gene, meaning all of the cells can sickle and this caused a horrific condition known as SCD.
The defect causes hemoglobin to behave differently. After hemoglo bin drops off oxygen to the cells, the protein can crystallize, link together forming long rods, that grow until they push against the inside wall of the blood cell, twisting and distorting its shape. The shape often resembles a crescent moon – a sickle - for which it is Septembernamed. is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month.
HEALTHTHEVIRGINIASTATESMAN PAGE WEDNESDAY39.21.22
160 FEMALE BIRTHS occurred with SCD in Virginia dur ing 2016-2020.
159 MALE BIRTHS occurred with SCD in Virginia dur ing 2016-2020.
1 OUT OF 365
Every organ in the body needs oxygen. The brain, skin, heart, kid neys, eyes, bones, and more. The sickled cells become hard, sticky, and
1 OUT OF 13
321 BIRTHS occurred with SCD in Virginia dur ing 2016–2020.
African American births are af fected by sickle cell disease.
“I am very committed to building both a department that is recognized for having a great band program and also producing a department that can offer several comprehensive music programs,” Dr. Rowley said. “I want us to be able to recruit a larger demographic of students to come here to also pursue their degrees in music and music performance.”
Anjel-Ali ExecutiveOrmondEditor
Director Dr. Samuel L. Rowley brings experience to VSU
Department of Music welcomes new chair
This August, the Virginia State Music Department welcomed Dr. Samuel L. Rowley to the faculty. Dr. Samuel L. Rowley current ly serves as the Chairman of the Depart ment of Music and Director of Band and WindsDr.Activities.Rowley has his Bachelor’s in Music Education from Florida A&M University, his Master’s in Music Educa tion from the University of Illinois Urba na-Champaign, and his Doctorate’s in Music Education with an emphasis on Instrumental Conducting from Colum bia University. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and is a Spring 2017 initiate of the Gamma Mu Lambda Chapter in Tallahassee, Florida.
“Fromevents.the time they get out of their car to go see the performance to the time they leave, we want there to be a ‘wow factor’ with everything that we do,” Rowley said. “It can be on Saturday during halftime with the Trojan Explo sion band or it can also be through a concert, or our orchestra or wind en semble.”“Iam looking forward to the brand new musical approach that we are going to provide the faculty, staff, students, and local alumni,” Dr. Rowley said. “I think that they will be very proud of the great musical products that we are get ting ready to produce here in the De partment of Music.”
He has over 16 years of collegiatelevel teaching experience with music. He served as the Chairman of the Depart ment of Music, Director of Bands, and Associate Professor of Music Education at Palm Atlantic Beach University, Di rector of Bands, and Assistant Professor of Music at Huston-Tillotson University. He also was an Assistant Professor of Music Education and Director of Assess ment and Accountability in the College of Education at his alma mater, Florida A&M University. He also was Assistant Director of Bands at North Carolina CentralAfterUniversity.leavinghis position at FAMU, Dr. Rowley went to Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and pro ceeded to shape their band program.
Dr. Rowley also teaches courses within the music department. He teach es “music courses, instrumental method courses, instrumental conducting and supervises student teachers.” He also oversees the music education program until the “music education program hires a full-time music education profes sor.”Dr. Rowley is looking forward to the fall and spring semesters. He has been speaking to faculty about pro viding a “curb-to-curb” service for all individuals that come to Virginia State music
ed toAnddo.” so from age four, Dr. Rowley knew that he wanted to be a musician. He begged his mother to buy him a trumpet.“The first trumpet she bought me was a toy trumpet that plays nursery rhymes when you press the valves,” Dr. Rowley said. “It wasn’t a real trumpet. But, I kept bugging her, and I will never forget when a year later, she purchased my first trumpet. I started practicing on it for hours, even from the age of six. I wanted to develop into a world-class musician.”Once Dr. Rowley began to attend FAMU band camp in college, he wit nessed Dr. William P. Foster – one of the world’s most renowned band directors, known for directing the FAMU March ing “100,” according to the Florida Hall of Fame – and changed his music trajec tory.“When he began to work with the honor band (that I was a member of during that time) and when I saw the tremendous musicianship and artistry that was displayed by a person that was the same skin tone as me, and AfricanAmerican just like me, that’s when I
“I loved being out in Austin, Texas. I built the band program pretty much from scratch,” Dr. Rowley said. “They had not had a band program since the 1940s. When I arrived, we reinstalled the band program and presented our first concert, a virtual concert being that we were in the heart of the pandemic during that time. The first concert for the band in well over 55 years. Due to my success there, I was given an oppor tunity to serve as the Chairman of the
The Department of Music welcomes new chairman Dr. Samuel Rowley. Dr. Rowley serves as the primary conductor of the wind ensemble and also oversees the instrumental area. Photo by Anjel-Ali Ormond.
Dr. Rowley grew up with a passion for music.“Ifellin love with music from a very young age,” Dr. Rowley said. “Back in the 1980s, I remember there were these Louis Armstrong commercials that would come on TV. He would sing with his nice, raspy voice. In one commer cial, he sang a Christmas song -- but he started playing the trumpet. And when I saw him play trumpet, I was hooked. Immediately, I knew that’s what I want
Dr. Rowley plans to build up the music department and band.
Department of Music and the Director of Bands at Palm Beach Atlantic Uni versity in the beautiful city of West Palm Beach,WhileFlorida.”atPalm Beach Atlantic, Dr. Rowley built up the band program and the music department. After a little over a year into his stay at Palm Beach Atlan tic, Dr. Rowley was recruited to come to Virginia State University.
FEATURESTHEVIRGINIASTATESMAN
PAGE WEDNESDAY49.21.22
“I tell everyone - I love where I was in West Palm Beach but I saw a tremen dous opportunity and need for me to give back,” Dr. Rowley said. “Not only to the department of music here but also to the process of creating the next gen eration of musicians that will go out and also serve as great ambassadors of VSU.”
knew that I wanted to be a conductor,” Dr. Rowley said. “Since then, it has al ways been my goal to develop a wind en semble program that would be second to none in this country. That is my ultimate goal. So when I saw the opportunity to lead a department of music and also develop the world-class band program here at Virginia State, I jumped at it.”
Dr. Rowley models the band lead ership off the model of the “Big 10” universities, where the “director of the band oversees the majority of the opera tion.” Interim Director of Marching and Pep Bands Taylor Whitehead runs the marching band. Dr. Rowley, on the other hand, serves as the primary conductor of the wind ensemble and also oversees the instrumental area.
FEATURESTHEVIRGINIASTATESMAN PAGE WEDNESDAY59.21.22 JOIN OUR STAFF THESTATESMANVIRGINIA We are looking for writers, photographers, designers, social media reporters, videographers, and artists. Interested? Email us: TheVirginiaStatesman@gmail.com
CORRECTIONS the August Virginia Coleman
CHARNESE SMALL GIBRAN GODFREY CHRIS
University recognizes the educational and societal value of encouraging the uninhibited, robust, free and open discussion of issues and ideas on America’s college and university campuses, as well as the legal protections afforded students’ exercise of freedom of expression and press freedom, especially by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is therefore the policy of the Virginia State University Board of Trustees that all student edited campus media have been established as designated public forums for student
2022 edition of The
Statesman the article on page 5, “Studio space takes audio production to next level” the byline was improperly credited. Kameko
wrote the article.
In
about The Virginia Statesman’s editorial policy please ofVA20809Statecom,emailtheStatesmanTheal-policy/www.TheVirginiaStatesman.com/editori-visit:opinionspagesofTheVirginiaareaforumopentopublic.ContributionsarewelcomebytoTheVirginiaStatesman@gmail.bymailorin-personatVirginiaUniversity-MultipurposeCenter,2ndAveRoom1415,Petersburg,23803.Opinionsexpressedarethoseindividualcolumnistsanddonotnecessarily reflect the views of The Virginia Statesman. Unsigned editorials represent the collective opinion of the editorial board of The Virginia Statesman.
OURWAUGAMANPOLICYLETUSKNOWVSSTAFFPAGEWEDNESDAY69.21.22
The Virginia Statesman www.TheVirginiaStatesman.comand are the independent student newspaper and student news website at Virginia State VirginiaUniversity.State
Forexpression.moreinformation
OPINIONSTHEVIRGINIASTATESMAN ADVISERSTAFFTERRYKAMEKOCHARNESEGIBRANISSAMARANJEL-ALISTAFFPHOTOGIBRANSPORTSGIBRANOPINIONSNEEDEDNEWSNEEDEDFEATURESCHARNESEARTJALYNNMANAGINGGIBRANEXECUTIVEANJEL-ALITHEVIRGINIASTATESMANORMONDEDITORGODFREYEDITORWHITEEDITORSMALLEDITOREDITOREDITORGODFREYEDITORGODFREYEDITORWRITERSORMONDKIRBYGODFREYSMALLCOLEMANJACKSONPHOTOGRAPHERS
The Virginia Statesman strives for accuracy in gathering news. If you think we have made an error, please forpurchasedperson.pagesCorrectionsTheVirginiaStatesman@gmail.com.emailwillappearonthenewsand/oronline.OnepaperperAdditionalcopiescanbeatHunter-McDanielBuilding$1each.
SPORTSTHEVIRGINIASTATESMAN PAGE WEDNESDAY79.21.22
PHOTOTHEVIRGINIASTATESMANGALLERY PAGE WEDNESDAY89.21.22 STATESMAN@TheVAStatesmanVIRGINIATHE.COMHOMEFOOTBALLGAMES2022OCT1VSSHAWUNIVERSITYOCT8VSBOWIESTATE(HOMECOMING)NOV5VSVIRGINIAUNIONHOMEVOLLEYBALLGAMES2022SEPT29VSSHAWUNIVERSITYOCT13VSLINCOLNOCT24VSELIZABETHCITYSTATEOCT27VSVIRGINIAUNION
